FEVER is an investigator-designed, prospective, multicentre,double-bind, randomized, placebo-controlled,parallel-group trial. The primary objective is to compare the long-term effects on the incidence of fatal and non-fatal stroke (and secondarily of other cardiovascular events) of administering a small dose of the calcium antagonist felodipine (5 mg once a day) or of a placebo, in hypertensive patients whose blood pressure had preliminarily been reduced by administering a low-dose diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide,12.5 mg once a day) to be continued in association with felodipine or placebo, throughout the trial.

Inclusion Criteria:

• SBP of 210 mmHg or less and DBP less than 115 mmHg if under antihypertensive treatment; SBP 160-210 mmHg or DBP 95-115 mmHg if untreated. Presence of at least one or two risk factors or cardiovascular diseases Informed consent obtained

Exclusion Criteria:

stroke or myocardial infarction during the previous 6 months; secondary hypertension; unstable angina; cardiomyopathy or significant valvular disease; serum creatinine greater than 178 mmol/l (2.0 mg/dl); gout; uncontrolled diabetes(fasting plasma glucose > 10 mmol/l, 180 mg/dl despite therapy); serious pulmonary or hepatic disease; known contraindications to study drugs; unwillingness to cooperate